Tuesday, March 29, 2005

By CARY CASTAGNA, POLICE REPORTERThe prime suspect in the unsolved 1981 murder of Winnipeg waitress Barbara Stoppel has died. Terry Arnold, 42, was found dead of an apparent suicide Saturday afternoon in his apartment in Victoria, B.C.

Officers from the Victoria Police Department were called to an apartment about 1 p.m. to check on the welfare of a resident, said Sgt. Michael Brown.

The body of a man, who was later identified as Terry Arnold, was discovered in the suite, Brown said.

"There does not appear to be any signs of foul play," Brown told The Sun. "The investigation is being classified as sudden death, believed to be a suicide."

An autopsy had yet to be conducted, Brown said.

Arnold, a convicted pedophile with a lengthy criminal history, became the No. 1 suspect in the Stoppel slaying shortly after Thomas Sophonow was exonerated in June 2000.

However, Arnold was never charged.

"I'm quite glad Terry Arnold is no longer on this planet at this point because he can harm no one else," Stoppel's brother, Rick Stoppel said yesterday.

But the murder victim's sibling expressed frustration with Winnipeg police for failing to solve the case when they had the chance.

He said Chief Jack Ewatski told his family several years ago that Arnold was the killer. "Why has nothing happened?" he asked.

Stoppel, 16, was strangled and left for dead in a washroom in a Goulet Street doughnut shop on Dec. 23, 1981.

Sophonow, who protested his innocence for 20 years, was tried three times and was convicted of murder twice, spending almost four years in jail before being freed and eventually awarded $2.6 million in compensation.

"That's too bad," Sophonow said of Arnold's death. "It'll be more hardship on the Stoppel family than myself. They themselves won't see any closure. As far as I'm concerned, I've already been vindicated."

Arnold had a striking physical resemblance to Sophonow, lived near the St. Vital doughnut shop and was interviewed at the time of the murder.

Arnold told police he had a crush on Stoppel and admitted visiting the teenager in hospital before she died.

"He was clearly the person of most interest in terms of the Barbara Stoppel death," said Jay Prober, the Stoppel family's lawyer.

Arnold, who served eight years for raping several Newfoundland children, was also being investigated in the 1987 slaying of a 17-year-old Calgary girl.

He had been convicted eight years ago of first-degree murder for the 1991 slaying of a British Columbia teen and was serving a life sentence until he won a new trial on appeal.

In March 2002, the B.C. Crown Attorney's office decided to stay the charge against Arnold and he was immediately released from jail.

After 25ish some-odd-years Theresa comes back. Why she disappeared and where she went is shrouded in mystery. What is certain is it's all my fault. She won't talk to me, and it has something to do with something I did twenty-five years ago, but she won't tell me what it is and can't remember.

OTTAWA - Canada could soon see a massive expansion of its DNA data bank, at a potential cost of millions of dollars, under a deal to amend the federal government's DNA data bank bill that the Liberals and opposition parties are trying to clinch by early April.

Justice critics for all parties said in interviews Tuesday the minority government bowed to opposition pressure by agreeing in principle, behind-the-scenes, to change the proposed law. Possible amendments include retroactively forcing offenders now in prison, who were convicted of a single murder or sexual assault or manslaughter, to provide blood, hair and saliva samples to the DNA data bank.

That change alone, which was on a longer list of demands by the Conservatives, could substantially expand the size of the data bank. It is only one of several amendments that had been under intensive discussion this month as the government tries to win support for its proposed law, which is currently before the House Commons justice committee.

As the bill stands, it would add 28 Criminal-Code offences to the list of crimes for which courts can order offenders to surrender blood, saliva or hair samples. Those offences include luring children on the Internet and making, possessing or distributing child pornography.

If the proposed retroactivity measure is passed and implemented before Parliament rises next June, prison authorities would be able to seize DNA samples from notorious killers such as Karla Homolka, whose manslaughter sentence for the sex slayings of Ontario teenagers Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French ends July 5, 2005.

Another key change proposed by the government, under pressure from the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois, is that more crimes be added to the list of ``primary offences'' for which judges virtually automatically grant an order to seize DNA samples. The government is also talking about dramatically expanding the list of less serious ``secondary'' offences, for which judges have the discretion to grant a DNA sample, by including all the indictable offences for which a person is at risk of a penalty of more than five years in prison.

The government's proposal doesn't quite satisfy the Conservatives' even more sweeping demand that all offences, even relatively minor crimes, should be designated as secondary offences, which would require an offender to supply a DNA sample to the data bank unless the offender could show that his or her privacy was more important than public safety.

The Liberals' proposal may go too far for the the Bloc Quebecois and NDP, but the Liberals could pass their bill with the support of the Conservatives.

Justice Minister Irwin Cotler's parliamentary secretary, MP Paul Macklin, told CanWest News Service he hopes to reach some agreement with the opposition, and table amendments, in the first week of April, when the DNA bill is expected to be up for clause-by-clause approval by the Commons justice committee.

``There could be a very large addition to the data bank, looking at some of the proposals that have been suggested by the members of the opposition and arebeing considered by the government,'' he acknowledged.

Macklin is awaiting justice officials' financial estimates as to the potential impact of a major expansion of the data bank.

``I want to make sure that members of the opposition are equally aware of the cost implications of any suggestions that are being brought forward so that we will be able to see the cause and effect, because it would lead to potentially some supplemental estimates (to the budget) having to be brought forward in order to support that,'' he said.

If the government accedes to demands to start stockpiling the DNA of missing persons by creating a missing person's index in the data bank, which is under discussion, Macklin says the cost could easily be in the millions.

``In the lesser process, I think it would not be near as extensive as that. But if we took all of the suggestions that have been brought forward, and we immediately adopted all of them, it could run into the tens of millions of dollars.''

Conservative justice critic Vic Toews said he considers the government's movement in changing the bill a victory for his party, but added the proposals now on the table do not go far enough.

Bloc Quebecois justice critic Richard Marceau said the Bloc might support the Liberal's proposal to expand the secondary and primary offences, but he wants to see any draft amendments first.

NDP justice critic Joe Comartin said the government agreed in principle with the NDP to change the bill so that mentally ill offenders found to be not criminal responsible for their actions in committing a serious primary offence should not automatically be required to provide DNA samples. He said the government is also considering his proposal that DNA samples taken from mentally ill offenders should be taken by medical professionals, rather than police.

Twenty-Eight years ago today the body of 20-year old Louise Camirand was found in a snow bank near Megog, Quebec. Camirand's death remains unsolved. The following is how the newspapers reported her discovery 28 years ago:

Sherbrooke woman murdered near Magog

AUSTIN - Quebec Police Homicide officers are continuing their investigation in the murder of a 20-year-old Sherbrooke woman whose body was discovered on the McDonald Concession Road her at 10 a.m. Friday. Florent Henry and Robert Curtis, both of R.R. 2, Magog made the discovery when they were on their way to cut wood and saw the nude body of Louise Camirand of 30 Bryant St. partially covered with snow.

"They told us they travelled the same road on Wednesday when everything was normal." Const. Andre Lessard, Cowansville QPF said. "When Const. Gary Budge and I arrived on the scene we were able to determine she was in her 20s and had a boot lace around her neck. She was frozen solid and there were no other external signs of violence. Her black slacks and blue suede jacket with grey fur trim were near her."

Death was confirmed by Coroner Noel E. Monast and the body was taken to the Medical-Legal Institute, Montreal where an autopsy performed Saturday revealed the young woman had been sexually assaulted prior to being killed. The report also indicated she suffered internal lesions and fractures in the pelvic area and the latter might have been caused by kicking or having been hit by a blunt instrument.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Non Résolu - Manon Dube R.I.P.

Twenty-Seven years ago today the body of 10-year old Manon Dube was found in a stream near Massawippi, Quebec. Manon's death remains unsolved. The following is how the newspapers reported her discovery 27 years ago:

Police say there is yet no way to determine what killed ten-year-old Manon Dube, missing from near her Sherbrooke home since. Jan. 27, whose body was retreived from a frozen brook Friday Night.

Two young Montreal Boys, in the area for the weekend, found Manon's body partially frozen into the brook ice half a mile from Massawippi on the Kingscroft road.

The body was transported to Montreal Saturday and an autopsy will be performed at the Medical-Legal Institute today. Det. Lt. Alphee Leblanc of the SHerbrooke Municipal Police who has headed the investigation since January will assist at the autopsy.

When found, Manon was dressed exactly as the day she disappeared, in a navy blue snowsuit and tan leather boots. Only one red mitten and a salmon-pink tuque were not recovered.

A police spokesmans said the only visible sign of injury was a deep gash to Manon's forehead, but added it may have been caused by the ragged ice.

The spokesman said it was impossible to determine exactly how long Manon's body had been in the brook, but said indications were the better part of the two months since her disappearance.

Members of the Sherbrooke and Coaticook QPF and Sherbrooke municipal police combed the brook area through the day Saturday but their search was hampered by melting ice and new fallen snow.

Manon was last seen at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 27, when she and her younger sister, Chantal were walking to their Bienville Street home after playing outdoors. When the pair reached the intersection of Union and Craig streets, Chatal decided to run the remainder of the way because she was cold. Only 500 yards from her home, Manon never arrived.

The same weekend, a 16-man police search team and tracking dogs combed the city's west end, but found no trace of the girl. More than 1500 local snowmobilers spent several days searching in the area surrounding Sherbrooke but found nothing.

Manon's mother, Jeannine Dube, said she was relieved that her daughter's body had been recovered: "for nine weeks, the tension I have been under... I didn't know what to do with myself," She said.

In a local radio broadcast yesterday morning Mrs. Dube said it was only the good will of her family and prayer that kept her going.

"And I ask you to pray for her... and for me." She said.

A Sherbrooke native, Mrs. Dube said she has no intention of moving from the City.

HILLSBOROUGH -- The line of succession that began in 1978 when Wade Barber met a young bartender named Carl Fox took another step forward Wednesday afternoon as Barber swore in Fox as a Superior Court judge and Fox, in turn, swore in his assistant, Jim Woodall, as district attorney.

The large courtroom in the Orange County Courthouse overflowed with friends, family, law enforcement officers, judges, attorneys and county and state leaders as Fox and Woodall officially began their new posts.

Gov. Mike Easley last week appointed Fox as the second Superior Court judge in Orange and Chatham counties, and then he appointed Woodall as DA for the two counties, to fill Fox's vacant spot.

Orange-Chatham Superior Court Judge Barber began the ceremony with a speech about Fox, whom he met when Barber himself was the Orange-Chatham DA. "I went to this function, and there was this very engaging bartender there, and I went to talk to him and found out he was a third-year law student," Barber recalled.

The judge joked that Fox was so highly respected at UNC he was a professor even while he was still a student. "He taught the first, and I think the last, class of mixology, otherwise known as bartending," Barber said to the laughs of the people in the courtroom.

Later, Barber hired Fox as an assistant district attorney, and when Barber left the office six years later, the governor appointed Fox, with Barber's blessing, as the new DA.

Barber spoke of Fox's dedication to the community in his public and personal life. Fox's class for teenagers is the most well attended Sunday school class at his church, he pointed out. Barber also mentioned that Fox has served on the board of directors of various organizations, such as Volunteers for Youth and Habitat for Humanity.

After his speech brought the crowd to its feet for a standing ovation for Fox, Barber swore his protégé in as the new Superior Court judge as Fox's wife, Valerie Stafford-Fox, held the Bible for him.

Fox immediately donned the black robe of a judge, then thanked all the people who had helped him over the years.

"I didn't truly grow up dying to be a judge," Fox said. "I remember watching 'Leave It to Beaver,' and seeing a judge. You almost think of judges as being older, withdrawn sorts of people. Now I'm one of those older, withdrawn sorts of people."

Fox referred to a recent editorial that said some people chided him for never obtaining the death penalty against anyone while he served as district attorney. Fox said he wasn't bothered by that criticism.

"I'm proud that the counties where I am district attorney have chosen life over death," he said, as many people applauded loudly.

Fox recalled that when he received his appointment as DA in 1984, there were only two other black district attorneys in the nation. He noted that now he is the first black Superior Court judge for Orange and Chatham counties.

"I want to say to any young person who sits in this audience or reads this in the paper, you can do anything you want to do if you just work hard and get a good education," he said.

Then Fox turned his attention to his successor, Jim Woodall, who has served as his assistant district attorney for 15 years. He said he met Woodall at the UNC Hospitals Emergency Room, where Woodall was working along with one of Fox's friends.

Woodall has tried many serious cases and was manager of the Orange County office, Fox said. "He's got the experience that I didn't get when I was assistant district attorney," Fox said. "Trying cases, that's the easy part. Managing people is the difficult part."

After Fox applied to be Superior Court judge, he spoke to Woodall about his interest in becoming district attorney, Fox said.

"Jimmy, of course, said, 'Well Carl. I didn't ever say I was interested as long as you were DA, but I was sort of wondering, when are you going to move on?' " Fox said.

Then, in his first act as a Superior Court judge, Fox swore Woodall in as the new district attorney for the two counties as Woodall's wife, Linda, and his daughter, Handley, stood by his side.

"I am going to work as hard as I can at this job and make everyone in our district proud of our office and have confidence in our office, Woodall said.

WE'VE HEARD THEIR NAMES ON THE EVENING NEWS: BOISVENU...SURPRENANT.....AND BUSCHMAN. BUT AFTER THE TRIAL- WHAT HAPPENS TO THE FAMILIES OF THOSE KILLED IN A VIOLENT CRIME? TONIGHT- YOU'LL SEE HOW DEEPLY SCARRED THESE FAMILIES ARE...AND HOW LITTLE IS BEING DONE TO HELP THEM.

(s/up) Good Morning. Good morning! How are you? Fine thank you and you?

[Christine] I don't think they really really see the real inside of me.They see a person who's determined, somebody who has goals, who's strong, somebody that loves life actually.

(s/up)[Boisvenu] People who know me know that we enjoy to receive people at home.I enjoy to do meals for them. I'm a good cook and they know that we are a very happy family.

[Christine] Nobody really knows how I really am inside. How hurt I am and vulnerable.

[Boisvenu] People don't see the worst side of what happened to the family.

(s/up TV report) Sherbrooke police look for clues near where the body was found.

[Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu/Father of Julie Boisvenu]My daughter's name was Julie. She was 27 years old and she was killed in the night of June 22 in 2002.

(s/up TQS report)

[Christine] My sister's name is Cathy Patricia Carretta. She was killed on Feb. 10th, 1998.(s/up) You guys like horror movies? Yeah! I hate them! I just hate them.SIX YEARS AFTER HER YOUNGER SISTER WAS KIDNAPPED AND MURDERED BY AN EX-BOYFRIEND, CHRISTINE CARRETTA IS STILL HAUNTED.

[Christine Carretta/Sister of Cathy Carretta]I saw pictures of my sister with bruises with her hair cut, with cigarette butts on her and she was burnt and what he did to her was horrible. The only image I have of my sister when I close my eyes is of her in her coffin. With her face blue and swollen and cold. That's all I remember. It's terrible to see someone like that. It really traumatized me.

[Boisvenu] Diane and I was starting a very nice good relation with Julie. Everything was going so good with her.(s/up TV report) Looking for any evidence...

BUT WHEN THEIR DAUGHTER SUDDENLY WENT MISSING AFTER A NIGHT OF CELEBRATING A PROMOTION, THEY KNEW THEY WOULD NEVER SEE HER ALIVE AGAIN.

[Boisvenu] In the first week in the middle of the week that we were searching the body of Julie, things were going bad here, emotion was high, patience was low.

DIANE ALREADY KNEW HOW TRAGEDY CAN DAMAGE A FAMILY.

[Diane Carlos/Mother of Julie Boisvenu]When I was young, my younger brother died from an accident and I got very traumatized.

SO WHEN HER JULIE'S BODY WAS FOUND IN A WOODED AREA LESS THAN A WEEK LATER, DIANE HAD ALREADY MADE A DECISION.NO ONE ELSE IN HER FAMILY WOULD BE HURT BY THE MAN WHO'D RAPED AND MURDERED HER DAUGHTER.

[Diane] I knew we had to stick together. I said there will be no other victim in the family.

[FADE TO BLACK](s/up voices)

[January 25, 2005. Two and a half years after Julie's death.]

MONTREAL: A WEEKEND MEETING IN A SCHOOL-(s/up) Bonjour...

BUT THESE PEOPLE AREN'T TEACHERS. THEY'RE THE MOTHERS, FATHERS, BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THE VICTIMS OF SOME OF QUEBEC'S MOST BRUTAL CRIMES.

(s/up) Pere de....assassine... soeur de assassine...THEIR LOSSES MADE HEADLINES. WHAT DIDN'T IS THEIR STRUGGLE TO GO ON.(s/up) We have two goals...

PIERRE-HUGUES BOISVENU IS ON A MISSION. HE WANTS TO EASE THEIR SUFFERING.(s/up)

[Boisvenu] That kind of event don't just make a victim; direct victim, it's like a bomb in the family.

A HIGH-RANKING CIVIL SERVANT IN THE QUEBEC GOVERNMENT, BOISVENU IS LEADING A NEW ASSOCIATION FOR THE FAMILIES OF PEOPLE MISSING OR KILLED BECAUSE OF A VIOLENT CRIME. IT'S CALLED AFPAD. AND ITS GOAL - TO PUSH GOVERNMENTS AND THE PUBLIC TO RECOGNIZE THE COLLATERAL DAMAGE THESE PEOPLE SUFFER WHEN A LOVED ONE IS SUDDENLY RIPPED FROM THEIR LIVES.

[Boisvenu] Those family will be on welfare. You will have drop out from kids from school. So imagine the cost.

IT'S A BATTLE HE'S READY TO WAGE. BUT HE'LL NEED A LOT OF HELP TO WIN IT.CHRISTINE CARRETTA AND HER FATHER ARE HERE.

[Christine] I would describe it as having a whole bunch of people that are actually handicapped and that you can't really see it because they don't have a wheelchair.

MADELINE BELAIR FOR EXAMPLE- SHE'S ABOUT TO GO TO COURT WHERE SHE'LL HEAR THE SORDID DETAILS OF HER DAUGHTER MAUDE'S MURDER.

AND MICHEL SURPRENANT THE FATHER OF JULIE SURPRENANT WHO DISAPPEARED IN TERREBONNE FIVE YEARS AGO. HER BODY HAS NEVER BEEN FOUND.THEY SHARE A MOMENT OF SILENCE.

(s/up moment of silence)THEN FILL OUT A SURVEY. FOR A LOT OF THEM, IT'S THE FIRST TIME ANYONE HAS EVER FORMALLY ASKED WHAT SUPPORT THEY NEED -AND AREN'T GETTING.

[Christine] Being here today gives me hope; a lot of hope and strength.

BECAUSE FOR MANY, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THEY'RE MEETING SOMEONE LIKE THEM.

FOR A WHILE THEIR STORIES DOMINATED THE HEADLINES. BUT AFTER THE CAMERAS AND REPORTERS MOVED ON, YESTERDAY'S CRIME STORY BECAME 'THEIR' NEW REALITY.'THEY' ARE THE OVER ONE THOUSAND QUEBEC FAMILIES WHO'VE LOST LOVED ONES TO VIOLENT CRIMES OVER THE PAST DECADE. NOW A NEW ASSOCIATION IS DETERMINED TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE VICTIMS NO MORE.

ON HER 50TH BIRTHDAY DOREEN DRUMMOND SAT DOWN AND WROTE ABOUT HER DAUGHTER.

[Doreen Drummond/Mother of Kelly-Anne Drummond] I will never be able to plan her wedding, help choose her wedding dress. We paid for a funeral when we should have been paying one day for her wedding.

KELLY-ANNE DRUMMOND WAS A STAR ATHLETE.BUT NO AMOUNT OF TRAINING COULD HAVE SAVED HER FROM A VIOLENT ENCOUNTER WITH HER KILLER.

[Doreen] I live a life sentence every day.(s/up TV report) She had been stabbed in the back.

[Doreen] This was all new to us. We were very lost.What would have helped in my mind is that somebody be there who had been in my shoes before; had lost a child, someone there who knew what to expect.

POLICE GAVE DOREEN NUMBERS FOR A GOVERNMENT-FUNDED ORGANIZATION CALLED IVAC. IT STANDS FOR INDEMNISATION DES VICTIMES DES ACTES CRIMINELLES.IT WAS SET UP IN THE EARLY 1970'S TO HELP CRIME VICTIMS BUT NOT THEIR FAMILIES.

[Doreen] The answer I received was "Well, I'm sorry, Madame that your daughter has been murdered but she is the victim, and you are not the victim.

THAT'S WHY PIERRE-HUGUES BOISVENU AND THE FATHERS OF THREE OTHER VICTIMS OF CRIME VICTIMS CREATED AFPAD.AND NOW WITH PEOPLE LIKE CHRISTINE CARRETTA SUPPORTING HIM AS AFPAD'S VICE PRESIDENT, SOME OF HIS GOALS ARE STARTING TO TAKE SHAPE.

MADELINE BELAIR IS ABOUT TO HEAR THE HORRIBLE DETAILS OF HER DAUGHTER MAUDE'S MURDER. TWO DAYS AFTER MEETING HER, AFPAD'S MICHEL SUPRENANT IS ALREADY THERE TO OFFER SUPPORT AND SOME GUIDANCE ON HER FIRST DAY IN COURT.

[February 3, 2005 Sherbrooke 10:30 am](s/up typing)

[Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu/Father of Julie Boisvenu] I have now ten new message.

PIERRE-HUGUES BOISVENU KNOWS HIS ULTIMATE STRENGTH WILL LIE IN NUMBERS.

(s/up typing)

[Boisvenu] Our members are here. When we going to have 300, 400 families in our association, can you know the power we're going to have?(s/upette) tap tap tap..

IN LESS THAN THREE MONTHS, MORE THAN 80 QUEBEC FAMILIES HAVE JOINED AFPAD. HIS GOAL IS TO HAVE A MEMBERSHIP OF 200 FAMILIES BY SPRING.

[Boisvenu] I'm in front of the pc until 11 o'clock in the night.

BOISVENU HAS RECRUITED A LARGE NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS TO HELP HIM.

(s/up graphic designer arriving) Salut! Bonjour.

HE'S ALSO GIVEN HIMSELF A CONSIDERABLE TO-DO LIST WITH ONLY A FEW WEEKS TO GET EVERYTHING DONE. THEY INCLUDE MEETING WITH THE JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SECURITY MINISTERS, LAUNCHING A FULLY FUNCTIONAL WEBSITE AND DISTRIBUTING FLIERS FOR AFPAD IN EVERY QUEBEC POLICE STATION BY THE END OF MARCH.

[Boisvenu] To be sure if something happen - murder or missing person, that the family can get in touch with us.

SHE SAYS THE QUEBEC GOVERNMENT HAS KNOWN FOR DECADES THAT THERE'S A LACK OF SUPPORT FOR THEIR FAMILIES. BUT NEVER WAS THAT MADE CLEARER THAN IN 1989.

(s/up TV report) The first parents to arrive on the scene were told it was not safe yet.

[Wemmers] Following the terrible events at the Ecole Polytechnique, it became very apparent that there were certain problems with the system; namely the parents of the children who were murdered for example were excluded from the system.(s/up) concerns that their children might still be in danger / Or as we can see....WEMMERS SAYS THE GOVERNMENT AGREED FAMILIES NEEDED MORE SUPPORT.IN 1993, IT PASSED A LAW TO ADOPT CHANGES. BUT THEN NEVER ENACTED THEM.

[Wemmers] I can't explain. Ask a lawyer to explain that one to you. It makes no sense.

THERE IS ANOTHER SERVICE DESIGNED TO INCLUDE FAMILIES.

IT'S CALLED CAVAC BUT IT ONLY GIVES LIMITED EMOTIONAL SUPPORT AS LONG AS 'THEY' SEEK IT. BUT WEMMERS SAYS MANY PEOPLE ARE TOO TRAUMATIZED TO REACH OUT.

[Wemmers] If you know how victims are going through stress and all sorts of other things, they're not thinking clearly as someone who is not under the same amount of stress.

AND MOST PEOPLE DON'T EVEN KNOW CAVAC OR IVAC EXIST.

[Wemmers] 60 per cent, when I asked them if they would know where to go for information about the criminal justice process, 60 per cent said no.

WE FOUND OUT OURSELVES JUST HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO GET A HOLD OF CAVAC AND IVAC. THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF PREPARING THIS REPORT, WE MADE REPEATED REQUESTS FOR INTERVIEWS WITH THEM AS WELL AS WITH THE MINISTERS OF JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SECURITY AND DESPITE THOSE NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS, NOT ONE OF THEM GRANTED US AN INTERVIEW.

PIERRE-HUGUES BOISVENU HAS SEEN HOW OTHERS HAVE FAILED WHEN THEY WENT TO BAT ON THEIR OWN. SO NOW, HE'S TRYING TO GET TOGETHER A BIGGER BAT.

(s/up) salut monsieur, comment ca va?

TODAY HE'S AT THE LOCAL OFFICES OF CENTRAIDE TO RECEIVE SOME MONEY.

(s/up photo op with cheque) click, c'est dans une lumiere...[Boisvenu] Well, 2000 dollars more. That means we are now at 12 thousand dollars for the association.

We should be good until next March. And after that, well, we're going to knock to other doors.

BUT HIS ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO GET THE PRIVATE SECTOR TO SUPPORT HIS CAUSE.

[Boisvenu] We cannot receive from the government all our financial support and in the same time, critic all the time, the government. It's not fair. It's not honest. We want that support come from the private sector. In that way, we going to be independent.

(s/up) hey salut, comment ca va?

AND TONIGHT HE'LL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO SOME MORE PITCHING AT A DINNER RECOGNIZING OUTSTANDING CITIZENS IN THE TOWNSHIPS.

(s/up) Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu....

[Boisvenu] For all the families, pour toutes les familles.

[FADE TO BLACK](s/up Christine's son playing piano) music

[Christine] She was like my baby. She was like my first child.

HER SISTER'S MURDER COST HER TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN LOST INCOME AND MEDICAL EXPENSES.

[Christine] Thousands of dollars just to bury my sister. It cost us 17 thousand dollars.[Caroline Van Vlaardingen] And you got?[Christine] Six hundred dollars.

SEVERELY DEPRESSED, CHRISTINE CARRETTA TURNED TO HER HUSBAND FOR SUPPORT.(music still playing)[Christine] Honestly at the time I think I neglected my children. I mean I had not time to listen to them. I was really trying to survive myself and I gave the whole load to my husband.

[FADE TO BLACK][February 10, 2005 Valleyfield 9:30 am](s/up) cryingDENISE LAFLEUR HASN'T OPENED HER PHOTO ALBUMS IN TWO YEARS.

[Denise Lafleur/Mother of Bobby Legault] It hurts too much.

LAFLEUR'S SON WAS STABBED TO DEATH IN KUUJJUAQ.THE TRIAL BEGINS IN APRIL. SHE'S TRYING TO GET THE GOVERNMENT TO PAY FOR HER TO BE ABLE TO FLY UP AND ATTEND. SO FAR THE ANSWER HAS BEEN NO.

(s/up) C'est effrayant[Lafleur] Our children get killed and just like a number, they forget us.

IT'S THAT KIND OF ISOLATION THAT BOISVENU IS DETERMINED TO FIX.SO HE'S IN VALLEYFIELD MEETING LAFLEUR TO HELP HER FIGHT.

[Lafleur] I lost a child there. I didn't lost my house or my car. It's my child that I lost.(s/up) c'etait un plaisir.

ALL OF THE FAMILIES HAVE TOLD HIM THAT WHILE THE ACCUSED HAS PLENTY OF SUPPORT AND LEGAL COUNSEL, THEY ARE OFTEN IGNORED BY THE LEGAL SYSTEM.

[FADE TO BLACK][Caroline Van Vlaardingen] THAT LAWYER WHO MANAGED TO GET YOU THE TRANSLATION SERVICES, ARE YOU PAYING HIM?

[Leona Barbeau/Sister of Tanya Buschman] Yes.

THE BUSCHMANS ARE IN MONTREAL FOR THE TRIAL OF MICHEL BERUBE.HE'S CHARGED WITH THE MURDER OF HIS WIFE, TANYA BUSCHMAN. HER FAMILY FROM OUT WEST FINDS ITSELF BATTLING JUST SO THEY CAN UNDERSTAND THE PROCEEDINGS.

[Caroline Van Vlaardingen] Why is it important for you to understand everything that's going on in the courtroom??[Leona Barbeau] In order for me to deal with my grief, I need to know.

[February 10, 2005 Montreal 12:30 pm]

(s/up) Jolene Riendeau....elle est la...

MEANTIME BOISVENU ATTENDS YET ANOTHER MEETING TO TRY AND BREAK GROUND IN THE ENGLISH COMMUNITY. BUT HE'S LOSING ENERGY. ONE OF HIS BOARD MEMBERS IS IN HOSPITAL, AND HE JUST FOUND OUT HE LOST HIS TRANSLATOR.

FOR THE FIRST TIME, HE'S WONDERING IF HE CAN DO THIS.

[Boisvenu] You know yesterday I was in front of my computer and I said to Mme. Caretta, "What am I doing in that boat?"

[February 10, 2005 Laval 2:30 pm]

[Christine Carretta] It's a lot of work you know.

WORKING WITH AFPAD IS HELPING CHRISTINE BY KEEPING HER BUSY- BECAUSE TODAY IS THE ANNIVERARY OF HER SISTER'S MURDER.

[Christine] It's very positive. It's very good on me and I think it's, it makes me go forward.

[Boisvenu] We have the momentum. The public is with us, the media is with us, so we have to..we cannot go back now.

BUT WHAT HE DOESN'T KNOW IS THERE ARE MORE ROADBLOCKS JUST AHEAD.

IT'S BEEN ONLY FIVE MONTHS SINCE AFPAD WAS FORMED TO HELP THE FAMILIES OF VICTIMS OF CRIME.THE GROUP HAS MADE HUGE STRIDES IN JUST A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.BUT WILL IT BE ENOUGH TO GET THE GOVERNMENT'S AND PUBLIC'S ATTENTION?

SEVEN YEARS AND A DAY AFTER CATHY CARETTA'S BURIAL...CHRISTINE IS ON HER WAY TO VISIT HER SISTER.

[Christine Carretta/Sister of Cathy Carretta]] If I turn on my right, I'll be going towards the prison where my sister's killer is. And if I miss her and feel like being close to her, I'll turn on my left to go to the cemetery.

IT'S A CROSSROAD SHE PASSES EVERY DAY ON HER WAY TO WORK.BUT SHE'S NOW AT PERSONAL CROSSROADS TOO.

[Christine] When my sister died, the last thing I was able to offer her; to give her was a coffin. I really thought that was the only thing I could give my sister and now I sort of see things differently you know. I can see I can give her a way of speech. I have a feeling she's in back of me, sort of pushing me and showing me the way a little.

SHE'S BEGINNING TO HEAL.BUT HER FAMILY IS STILL FRAGILE.

[Christine] I'm worried about my father. He needs all my energy and all my help and my support and I'm not always capable of giving it to him.

AND EVEN SHE KNOWS SHE MAY NEVER COMPLETELY RECOVER.

[Christine] My sister's grave doesn't have any picture and the reason is it's a bit of a way of denying I guess the fact that she's really resting here. It's like you're always waiting for the person to come back home, you know.

[FADE TO BLACK]

FOR DOREEN DRUMMOND, IT'S HER DAUGHTER'S PHOTOGRAPH THAT GIVES HER THE STRENGTH TO GO ON.

[Doreen Drummond/Mother of Kelly-Anne Drummond]Her perseverance as you could see from her face - determination - keeps me going each morning. It starts my day.

DOREEN IS NOW WORKING WITH AFPAD, THE ASSOCIATION REPRESENTING FAMILIES OF VICTIMS TO FORM A WEST ISLAND CHAPTER.

(s/up) the police would ask the family in crisis...ALTHOUGH HER OWN LOSS IS STILL RECENT -[Doreen] It's only been a few months but I have a choice. I either die with my daughter or I carry on. I must be a survivor. I must no longer be a victim.

PIERRE-HUGUES BOISVENU IS PUSHING ON TOO. ENDLESS COMMUTES BETWEEN HIS HOME IN SHERBROOKE, MONTREAL AND QUEBEC CITY ARE PAYING OFF. HE'S GOT A MEETING LINED UP WITH THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SECURITY, JACQUES CHAGNON.

[FADE TO BLACK]

[February 18, 2005 Montreal : Day of Meeting](s/up TV announcement) Jean Charest has gone back to the drawing board to re-invent his government. The premier has undertaken a cabinet shuffle.

A CABINET SHUFFLE. THE MEETING IS OFF. BUT WHEN BOISVENU HEARS WHO'LL REPLACE CHAGNON, HE'S ACTUALLY HAPPY. HE HOPES TO HAVE ANOTHER MEETING SET UP SOON.

[February 22, 2005 Sherbrooke]A FEW DAYS LATER BACK HOME IN SHERBROOKE , BOISVENU APPEARS ON A FRENCH NEWSCAST TO REACT TO THE ARREST OF A SUSPECTED PEDOPHILE OUT ON PAROLE. TIGHTENING THE PAROLE SYSTEM IS ONE OF THE BATTLES HE'S DETERMINED TO WIN SINCE HIS OWN DAUGHTER JULIE WAS KILLED BY A MAN OUT ON PAROLE.

MEANTIME MADELINE BELAIR LEARNS THAT HER DAUGHTER'S KILLER, IS FOUND GUILTY.

AND A FEW WEEKS LATER THE BUSCHMAN FAMILY CAN RETURN HOME OUT WEST. A JURY HAS FOUND MICHEL BERUBE GUILTY OF THE FIRST DEGREE MURDER OF HIS WIFE, TANYA.

BUT DENISE LAFLEUR STILL DOESN'T KNOW HOW SHE'LL GET TO KUUJJUAQ TO SEE THE TRIAL OF THE WOMAN ACCUSED OF KILLING HER SON.

[February 27 Montreal]

BOISVENU IS SEEING SIGNS OF FATIGUE AND WORRY FROM OTHER AFPAD MEMBERS. CHRISTINE HAS HAD TO STEP BACK FROM THE ASSOCIATION.

AND BOISVENU'S OWN WIFE DIANE IS STRUGGLING.[Boisvenu] I think I forgot a bit my own family in that story. So I have to be more sensitive, more present in my family.

(s/up typing)

DESPITE THE HUGE CHALLENGES, BOTH PERSONALLY AND FOR THE ASSOCIATION, HE FEELS HE CANNOT SLOW DOWN.

[Boisvenu] If we cannot pass our message right now, I'm sure that in the year to come, it will be too late because I think we're going to arrive at a political campaign. That's why we have to go right now on the public scene.

AFPAD'S FLYERS ARE FINALLY READY TO BE PRINTED. SOON EVERY POLICE STATION IN THE PROVINCE SHOULD HAVE THEM.

BOISVENU DRIVES ON. ENERGIZED HE SAYS BY THE DAUGHTER HE LOST. THE DAUGHTER HE BELIEVES IS NOW HELPING THOSE SHE LEFT BEHIND.

[Caroline Van Vlaardingen] What do you think she would say to you if she was sitting in the room right now?

[Boisvenu] I think she would be very proud. I think she would say I was not killed for nothing. My death has meaning not just for you, Papa but for 114 families. Yeah.

***********************************************************************[VICTIMS NO MORE - EXTRO]

AFPAD NOW HAS AN ENGLISH NAME - "MURDERED OR MISSING PERSONS' FAMILIES' ASSOCIATION". THE INFORMATION IS ALSO AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH ON THEIR WEB SITE.IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW WOULD LIKE MORE INFORMATION ON THEM AND OTHER NON-GOVERNMENTAL SUPPORT GROUPS, HERE'S HOW YOU CAN CONTACT THEM.

AFPADwww.afpad.ca1 877 844-0404

West Island Community Resource Centre514.694-6404

RIVCO (Innocent Victims of Organized Crime)514.343-4911

Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crimewww.crcvc.ca1 877 232-2610

Saturday, March 19, 2005

I got nothing today, read my homework

(I've applied for the Masters program at North Carolina State University, with a focus on Justice Administration. Currently I'm taking a course in Public Information Technology. Most of my application is finished, but I still have to write the GRE (yuck))

FYI: I got an "A" on this assignment - go Wolfpack!

North Carolina State UniversityPA 542 - Public Information Technology

March 15, 2005

From: John Allore

Subject: Strategic Planning and the failure of the FBI’s Virtual Case File SystemBackground

Each of these three policies address issues specific to the management of government information technology. The GPRA specifies that agencies must develop strategic plans that are performance-based, with outcome related goals and objectives. Along with other issues, the PRA mandates that the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) - under the umbrella of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) - develop a government-wide strategic plan to help guide agencies in the generation and implementation of their own specific strategic plans. The Clinger Cohen Act calls for the creation of Chief Information Officers for agencies and specifies that these CIOs must have the same degree of influence as other top managers. As well, these CIOs form the basis of a CIO Council, an advisory committee to develop recommendations for federal information technology policy, procedures and standards.

The intended influence and far reaching effect of these three policies was addressed in Executive Order 13011, signed by President Bill Clinton on July 16, 1996:

The head of each agency shall use information technology to improve mission performance and service to the public through… establishing mission-based performance measures for information systems, aligned with agency performance plans prepared pursuant to the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993… [1]

Strategic Information Management

According to The Government Accountability Offices’ publication, Improving Mission Performance Through Strategic Information Management and Technology (GOA/AIMD-94-115), strategic planning is a mission-based process, “by which top agency officials and line managers plan for, direct, and evaluate the use of information and information technologies to help accomplish their basic programmatic objectives.” The process involves the interrelation of five concepts:

- Technology- Information- Decisions- Work Processes- Mission

In the strategic management process Technology is used to process Information which supports Decisions which in turn drive Work Processes thus accomplishing the agency’s Mission.

Under the mandate of the GPRA agencies were called on to fully implement (Stage 5) Strategic Information Management practices no later than 2002. Strategic Information Management under the direction of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 is a system for measuring performance that ties results to the congressional appropriations process. Each agency is called upon to produce three documents; a five year strategic plan, an annual performance review plan and a performance review report submitted to congress.

The FBI’s Virtual Case Filing System

As early as 1985 the Federal Bureau of Investigation was discussing the need to upgrade its technology infrastructure. Launched in 2000, the Trilogy project (so named because it involved the implementation of three components) involved the phased implementation of hardware and software upgrades, an overhaul of the agency’s communications systems, and upgrades to Bureau applications for data sharing and case work. By April 2004, the first two phases were completed, but the third phase which provided the applications for the Virtual Case Filing System (VCF) had stalled and was over budget. Last month Agency officials including Director, Robert Mueller III admitted that the VCF system did not work and may need to be scrapped, at a cost of approximately $170 million to taxpayers.

According to its contractor, Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), the FBI failed to establish a baseline for the VCF, adopting instead a “we’ll-know-it-when-we-see-it”[2] approach which caused significant “scope creep” to the project’s parameters. In one 18-month period, the FBI requested 399 requirement changes.[3] As well, VCF suffered from a lack of leadership, having gone through five CIOs since the FBI began implementation. One industry source called the failures of the FBI’s Virtual Case File System, “an object lesson on how not to run a procurement.”[4]

Failure of Trilogy

The magnitude failure of the FBI’s Trilogy project is hard to comprehend under the influence of the Government Performance and Results Act. Under GPRA, agencies were supposed to develop strategic plans to foresee and prevent information technology failures. Since the implementation of the GPRA in 1997, the FBI has had the benefit of working under two strategic plans; the Federal Bureau of Investigation Strategic Plan 1998 – 2003, and its successor, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Strategic Plan 2004 – 2009. However this current plan does not adhere to the guidelines established by the General Accountability Office (GOA). The FBI’s plan fails to identify any goals, other than the vaguest of universal concepts. There are no performance measures or indicators given in the plan, nor are there any Agency benchmarks; thus it is impossible for the Bureau to measure its performance. One section of the FBI’s Strategic Plan addresses the issue of information technology, and specifically the Trilogy Project:IVB.2

The FBI’s Trilogy project has begun that process by upgrading to communications facilities, network servers, and desktop workstations that can accommodate the same enhanced technologies. The future challenge is to continue upgrading in order to keep pace with the technical prowess of our adversaries. [5]

To the matter of benchmarks, the plan offers the following priorities:

- Establish and implement a plan to make all technology available to any employee at any fixed office location.”[6]

The FBI’s strategic plan is a poor tool for IT management, and under the plan’s direction the Agency’s Virtual Case File System was destined to failure. Moreover, it contrasts greatly with other strategic plans such as the Justice Department’s 2003 Annual Performance Report to Congress which has clearly outlined performance measures, annual targets or benchmarks for success, a listing of actual outcomes, and a discussion on how to remedy failure or continue to improve on successes. [7]

Confusion

In her essay, The Realities of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, author Patricia Fletcher warned of the dangers of avoiding strategic planning in the implementation of information resources:

“…lack of attention to the management aspects of information technology leads to cost overruns of millions of dollars, projects that are years behind in implementation, and systems that, in the end, do not meet the needs of the end users.” [8]

Currently the FBI’s Virtual Case File System is under review as officials decide whether to continue investing in the project, or discontinue VCF altogether and start the project over from scratch. In the Agency’s 2006 budget there is no new money allocated to the VCF. Should the project be scrapped, it is estimated that the total loss could be anywhere between $100 and $200 million. [9] As the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Science, State, Justice, Commerce and Related Agencies begins to launch a review of the VCF program, Senator Judd Gregg offered the following comments:

“Maybe we should have an independent executive team with expertise (to oversee systems projects) that is consistent and technologically current” [10]

Such an argument may seem prudent, if the government didn’t already have such a team currently in place to provide technological direction. As Fletcher argues [11] the CIO Council, created under the mandate of the Paperwork Reduction Act was supposed to provide oversight and consistency by establishing a government-wide strategic Information Resource Management Plan for agencies. To date, the CIO Council has failed to come up with a unifying plan. As a result there is great confusion, a lack of agency oversight, and a general lack of consistency in the strategic plans provided by government agencies.

Further clouding the issue, The President’s Management Agenda under the Bush Administration has recently created the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART). Operating under the authority of the OMB – the same office that was to assess results through the use of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) – PART is supposed to assess results, accountability and performance of government agencies. But as argued in a recent article in OMB Watch,

The PART and GPRA appear to be redundant functions in the federal government — an ironic twist as each was meant to promote accountability and efficiency in government. A January 2004 Government Accountability Office report detailed the use of the PART and its relationship to GPRA. The GAO found the PART was a parallel and competing approach with GPRA’s Performance Management Framework … The relationship between the PART and GPRA is not clear and is often confusing to program officials and agency managers and undermines the efforts of both to promote efficiency and accountability. [12]

Conclusion The failure of the FBI’s Virtual Case File System can be attributed to the poor planning and management of the project. Though legislation such as the Paperwork Reduction Act, Clinger Cohen Act and the Government Performance and Results Act were intended to improve efficiencies and accountability in federal government, agencies are still unable to effectively implement strategic management systems that clearly benchmark performance and outcomes. Part of the problem may be attributed to the failure of top policy makers to clearly define how performance is to be measured through planning models. Competing legislation that at times contradicts policy has also added to confusion.

Friday, March 18, 2005

Some random threads

I have the flu so I'm staying home today (no, I'm not playing hooky so I can watch March Madness)...

Get a load of this nugget-of-joy I received yesterday:

... on Mar. 7, the Director General [Gerry Cutting of Champlain College] sent a letter to all staff members informing them of the [W-FIVE] program, mentioning that John has a plan to discredit the college, its employees and the Board of Governors, warning them not to make any comments to the media, and letting everyone know that Heenan and Blaikey have been hired to protect College interests and a national public relations firm engaged to help manage the media attack.

What weazels... ya, you wouldn't want to be helpful to the case. Priority one is - of course (forever and ever amen) - the school's reputation.

Anyway... about the only master plan I've been working on is how to get the kids in bed by eight so we can watch a movie tonight.

Then there are the tips...

Oh boy... yes, I've been getting tips (don't get me wrong, they're always helpful, and I am grateful for anything), but you have to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Theresa Allore was just 19 when she was found dead on a Quebec country road in 1979. Police deemed her death a drug overdose. Now, more than 25 years later, her family is asking questions again, convinced Theresa was murdered.

Theresa was enrolled at Champlain College boarding school in Lennoxville, near Sherbrooke. She lived in a residence 14 kilometres from campus in an isolated village called Compton. Students were expected to take buses back and forth to class every day.

One Friday in November, 1978, Theresa was on campus in Lennoxville around suppertime. She told friends she was going back to Compton because she had a book report due on Monday. But she missed the bus back.

Her former classmate, Suzanne De Rome, explains that if you missed the 6:15 bus, the next bus wasn't until 11 p.m. So if you didn't want to wait five hours?

"You hitchhiked. Because otherwise it was a very expensive cab ride," remembers Suzanne.

Incredibly, the school thought it was acceptable for students to hitchhike between the school and the residence. In fact, they offered tips in the student handbook on how to hitchhike.No one knows what happened to Theresa after she left campus. And with students coming and going over the weekend, no one noticed Theresa had gone missing.

She didn't show up for class on Monday. Or Tuesday. Or Wednesday. No one took attendance and so no one noticed one missing student.

Six days after Theresa was last seen, her brother Andre went to the college administrator and asked the school to organize a search. He was refused.

"He told me no, he wasn't going to turn the school upside down for this particular thing," Andre remembers.

When her frantic parents got to Champlain College, they were stunned by the attitude of the school administration.

"They started with character assassination and putting us on the defensive and they started with things like: was Theresa our child or was she adopted?" her father Robert remembers.Champlain officials suggested there might be something wrong with Theresa. They hinted at a wild, irresponsible girl who could have run away because she was pregnant or even suicidal.But by all accounts, Theresa was a well-adjusted teenager, a good student with above average marks. The family was forced to take up the search themselves. They put up posters and hired a private detective.

When they called in the Lennoxville Police, they jumped to the conclusion Theresa was a runaway who would eventually come back.

As incredible as it seems neither the school nor the police ever mounted an all out search for Theresa.

As it turns out Theresa was not far. Throughout that winter, her body lay just a few kilometres from her Compton residence. Nobody found her because nobody was out looking.

Finally, in April 1979, a trapper stumbled upon her body in river near a country road. She was found face down, clad only in a bra and underwear.

In a nearby farmer's field, police found a torn scarf, later identified as Theresa's. A week later, a farmer spotted Theresa's wallet in a ditch along another country road, 10 kilometres away.Because Theresa's body had spent five months in the water, medical examiners could not say exactly how or when she died except that it was a "violent death of an undetermined nature." At first, the local coroner thought he saw signs of strangulation. But the autopsy report shows no obvious marks of violence, no evidence of sexual assault.

Leo Hamel was the Lennoxville police chief back in 1978. He's retired now but after all these years, he still has his file on the missing girl who he now believes was murdered.

Hamel says he had a lot on his plate at the time, but he insists he did everything he could to try to find Theresa. He says there was no ground search in the beginning because he honestly believed she would show up.

Months before her body was found, the former police chief recalls that two hunters reported seeing a neatly folded pile of women's clothing in a forest the same weekend Theresa disappeared. But when Hamel went to find the clothes, they were gone.

Hamel notified the Quebec provincial police, the Surete du Quebec, about the missing girl. Theresa's parents say they were shocked when an officer named Roch Geaudreault told them to stop searching for their daughter.

"He said he didn't believe we should be wasting our time, like we should go home from where we came from," remembers her father. "She would come out of a snow bank in the spring. That's exactly what he said."

The Surete investigator had come up with a theory. There had been a party in the residence the night Theresa disappeared involving LSD. Perhaps she had taken some and accidentally overdosed.

But the Lennoxville police had already looked into that. Everyone at the party said Theresa wasn't there.

Even after she was found half naked under a bridge, the SQ continued to hold onto the theory that Theresa had probably overdosed and that frightened students covered it up.

"That's crazy," believes Theresa's old friend Suzanne. "At Champlain, you couldn't kiss a boy on Friday night without the entire campus knowing about it on Saturday morning. There was no way that students could mastermind some massive cover-up like this without anybody knowing it, it's absolutely impossible."

The years dragged on and the case remained unsolved. Her family struggled with the shame of the drug overdose theory, the idea that Theresa was somehow to blame for her own death.Her brothers grew up, and started families of their own. But their sister's death continued to gnaw at them. In 1994, Andre and his younger brother John returned to the spot where Theresa's body was found.

"I had to get my brother to show me exactly where it was," says John. "But the first time we pinpointed where she was in relation to the road, in relation to where she lived, and how she was found -- don't tell me she died of a drug overdose."

They felt certain their sister had been murdered, but the trail grew cold. More time passed. Finally in 2000, John set out to re-investigate Theresa's death and asked to see the Surete du Quebec file on his sister.

John got the autopsy report from 1979 and discovered no drugs were found in Theresa's body. He started to ask more questions about the bra and panties Theresa was wearing and the torn scarf found in the field nearby.

"I wanted to see what they had in terms of physical evidence from the crime," says John.He was told that the evidence had been destroyed five years after Theresa's body was found. He was stunned.

There was no DNA testing in 1979, but with advances in forensic science, something on Theresa's underwear or scarf might have revealed the identity of her killer. Today, cases are being closed decades after the fact. That opportunity was lost forever.

John combed through old newspapers from the late 70's and made a startling discovery. It began with an article from April 1979, the month Theresa's body was found. The article said her death recalled the death of Manon Dube.

Dube was 10 years old when she vanished from Sherbrooke in January, 1978. Her fully-clothed body was found two months later, face down in a creek kilometres away. Police speculated she was the victim of a hit-and-run and that the driver dumped her to cover up the crime.

Then John discovered another article. It mentioned the death of Louise Camirand, a 20-year-old woman who was found 14 months prior in the Memphramagog area, face down in the snow. She had been raped, stabbed and strangled. Camirand had also disappeared from a street in Sherbrooke.

It turned out all three cases remained unsolved. Was it possible they could be connected? The Allore Brothers began to really dig.

John tracked down the hunters who had seen clothing in the woods the weekend Theresa disappeared. He was stunned to find the spot was along the very same road where Camirand's body was dumped.

The country road itself took on a new significance. One way leads back to Compton, where Theresa was found. The other way leads into south Sherbrooke, past the point where Manon Dube disappeared. A little further on it goes past the Armoury where Louise Camirand was heading the night she disappeared.

"So it's like this nexus here," says John. "It is this very fluid connector to all these events."The Allores began to document the connections between the three unsolved cases. Armed with that information, they turned to Kim Rossmo, a pioneer in the police science field of geographic profiling.

As a Vancouver city cop, Rossmo helped develop a computer program to determine if seemingly random crimes can be linked. The program is now used by the RCMP, the FBI and Scotland Yard.

"If we can decode the pattern left by the locations of the crimes, we can use that type of information to help us focus on where the offender might be," he explains.

Skeptical, but intrigued, Rossmo asked the Allores for maps of the incidents. Looking at all three deaths, Rossmo spotted a persuasive pattern.

Given the unusual cluster and the low rate of female homicide in that part of rural Quebec at that time, Rossmo came to one conclusion: It is highly unlikely the three deaths are random occurrences.

"The simplest, the most powerful, the most likely explanation is that there was a serial killer operating in that area south of Sherbrooke in that time period, preying on young women," believes Rossmo.

Rossmo thinks the deaths should be reexamined. "It certainly seems to me to be a reasonable approach to go back and approach this as a single pattern and see where that might lead."There was never any doubt Louise Camirand had been abducted, sexually attacked and murdered. Why hadn't police ever considered the possibility the same thing had happened to Theresa? John believes that investigators form pet theories and become very stubborn about abandoning their theories.

In 2002, after the Allores went public with Rossmo's opinion, retired SQ agent Roch Gaudreault appeared on local television defending the drug overdose theory.

W-FIVE tracked down Geaudrault at a private investigation firm in Sherbrooke, but he refused to talk about the Allore case.

To this day, the SQ says there are no connections between all the cases.

"All theories are good but we need physical proof. We need something to lead us in our investigation and in Theresa's case, we don't have that," says SQ Agent Chantel Mackels."We did try to make a connection. In the case of Louise Camirand, it's evident there's signs of strangulation. In Theresa's case, it's not. So there, you don't have that similarity. Yes, they are two women in about the same age, in the same area. But to this day we have no physical evidence to prove they are linked.

"In the case of the young Manon Dube, she was a 10-year-old girl. She was all dressed up when we found her. It's not the same case."

Rossmo believes that is missing the point. It's the timing and the locations that count. Three disappearances, three bodies in such a confined geographic space that rules against chance."They need to be looked at together," he says. "If you don't look, if you don't ask the question how will you know?"

It's not the first time Rossmo's theory about the possibility of a serial killer has been dismissed. He was the first police officer in Vancouver to warn that women disappearing from the Downtown Eastside were likely victims of a single predator.

Pig farmer Robert Picton is now facing 22 counts of first degree murder and if convicted, will go down in history as Canada's worst serial killer.

The SQ would not give W-FIVE any details of its investigation but Theresa's brothers say the SQ has re-opened the case and is looking at two possible suspects.

No matter what happens, John says he and his brother have found some peace setting the record straight for Theresa.

"To know that our family in some ways have come together and come through to her aid, that is extremely satisfying."

Orange County DA, Carl Fox is - at least - partly culpable for botching procedures in the arrest of Andrew Dalzell. Fox' actions - frankly his inertia and sudden amnesia - lead to Dalzell's confession in the murder of Deborah Key being tossed by Judge Wade Barber...

I'm going to start investigating again. I've received some tips from people (some about you-know-who), so I'm going to go back to what I did at the beginning and start calling people up, travelling to Sherbrooke and getting my own answers.

Now if you don't want me to do this, then tell your supervisor to start putting some people full time on this case. At the pace you are going, this will never be solved. I did more in 6 months then you people have done in two-and-a-half.

Sorry, B... I like you, but I'm not playing games anymore. We're talking about my sister.

What a bringdown...I took a sickday yesterday. After taking the kids to school I crawled back into bed. It's all just a little depressing. I know how these things go, but somehow I was hoping for a little more than the usual, "attaboys" and "I know this creep, I think he did it..." e-mails.

What you expect is either a break in the case or a White Knight to come along and solve the whole messy problem for you...

Not that I didn't know how this would play out. I wrote back in January:

And so it goes with the W-FIVE piece. They tell me 1.2 million people watched.

And nothing happens.

The Surete du Quebec called me yesterday. They were really moved by the W-FIVE piece.

Will they call me on a regular basis to give me updates?

No.

Will they put more officers on the case?

No, my Investigator is still at it part-time; he's spending most of his hours at a trial in Val d'Or, QC.

So I stayed in bed yesterday. I'm back at work today. Tonight I have a presentation to give for my Public Information Technology class. I'll try to make it through until 9:00 pm. As my daughter says "I'm sad for no reason". Ya, that's true... I can't really put my finger on it, but I'm sad.

P.S.... The Ides of March... Exactly three years ago today, I took my first trip to Sherbrooke and asked Sgt Demarais of the Surete du Quebec if I could view the contents of my sister's file.

Monday, March 14, 2005

Brief UpdateFirst, on behalf of my brother and parents, I would like to thank all the people who have sent so many kind words of support....

Now I still have not seen the W-FIVE show (Sandy Roth is Fedexing it to me today), but a lot of people are asking the same questions, so I will attempt to answer some of them here:

1. First, an acknowledgement. It is my understanding that W-Five sort of paints the picture of Andre and me as "crime fighting brothers". This makes me laugh (ok, I like it a little bit).

We had the assistance of many good people in investigating this matter, and I believe some of them went unmentioned, so I would like to give thanks here:

To begin with, the investigation could not have been done without the help of then National Post journalist, Patricia Pearson. In 2002, Patricia and I worked this matter side by side. At that time I never had contact with Kim Rossmo; it was through her assistance that the geographic profile was developed. As well, Patricia was responsible for the development of the first suspect. When other journalists turned down this story (The Montreal Gazette, you know who I'm talking about), Patricia championed it, and for that I owe her my gratitude.

As well there are many others who gave me confidence and support including Robert Buellac, the former private investigator who worked with my father in 78-79 and came to my aid in 2002 (sadly, Robert died last year); Jacques Taschereau who was the first French journalist to see the significance of this story and produced the first television report that appeared on Radio Canada's Justice; Sharon McCully, the editor of The Sherbrooke Record who has always been available to guide me through the labyrinth of Townships politics. There are also many others, to whom I say thank you for your support and sustained diligence.

Some other matters:

Bikers: Yes, indeed, the Hells Angels bunker was located next to a Convent in Lennoxville-Sherbrooke. Over the years there was lots of speculation about Theresa's death being Biker related. The gang rivalry in 1978 was similar to that in the 90s in Quebec - issues tended toward rival gangs, and deaths were usually vendetta related (though I had heard of a case in Stanstead where a woman was raped in murdered as part of an initiation). I would not rule anything out (I believe the Angels were dealing acid to the College and the local high school in 1978), but so far, there is no evidence that the deaths of my sister, Theresa, Manon Dube or Louise Camirand were Biker related.

Psychics: Yes, I've consulted psychics (I was curious.). Look, they only give you 10% of the picture. For every seemingly related piece of information, there are nine other things that confuse the hell out of you (this, not from a skeptic, but a believer).

Leo Hamel crying on camera (is he hiding something?): I don't know. Leo had two teenage daughters at Champlain; I think his ability to investigate was compromised.

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Hi All,

I’m expecting a little more traffic after the W-FIVE thingy, so let me explain the landscape, and how things work here…

This is my blog (weblog or journal). It concerns all things in my sphere. Sometimes I write about developments in Theresa’s case, sometimes I write about general justice issues, sometimes I share personal stuff about Theresa. At times it can get downright stupid (the inventory of Quebec bottle caps?), at times I veer off track… ALWAYS it somehow rebounds back to the memory of my big sister Theresa.

And that’s never sad or depressing, so don’t take it that way – it always leaves me feeling intensely whole and alive.

Now, I haven’t seen the W-FIVE show, but I was involved in the making of it, so I’m anticipating some questions.

Here I give you my top 10 things that may have gone unanswered on W-FIVE:

1. So where’s the investigation at now?

You’ll have to ask the police, I don’t know. When they recently told an IVAC lawyer that there was evidence Theresa was at a “drug party” the night before she died (see previous letter to IVAC post), the case took an immediate backslide back to 1979, and I have since broken off communications.

Not that things were going well prior to this. In the two years since the Surete du Quebec decided to re-open the investigation things have progressively gotten worse. We have been through three investigators. Each time they switch, more time is lost as we take up to two months to bring the new guy up to speed. Each new investigator is a little less engaged to the prior one.

It is very frustrating.

All of the Investigators have been good, dedicated people; it’s just that as time passes, this case becomes less and less a priority for SQ heads. So now I have a guy who would like to investigate:- John, your sister’s file is on my desk every morning when I come into work .

- Yes, on the desk collecting dust.

but said investigator keeps getting pulled away to devote time to other cases.

Now this would be fine with me if Theresa’s case was stone cold. But it’s not; Theresa’s death has never been investigated as a murder. It’s red hot; there are many leads to follow-up on, at least three suspects that need to be rigorously pursued (before they die). I think after 26-years of screw-ups my family is owed – at least – full dedication to this matter.

It is pretty well an established fact that what victims want most is information. Particularly in unsolved cases. We want to be updated (even if that update is “we have nothing new to report”). Not saying anything further alienates victims.

Well last month I contacted my investigator. I said,

- Benoit, I’m tired…I’m tired of always having to be the one that calls you and asks for updates. It’s wearing me out. Don’t you know how much energy I have to come up with to put myself in the frame of mind to even contact you? So Benoit, here’s what I want: once a month – no matter if the case has not progressed – I want you to call me with an update…

- For how long?

- As long as this goes on.

- But you can call me any time, I always return your calls.

- Benoit, don’t you understand that it takes too much energy?

- I will need to check with my supervisor.

He never got back to me... and that’s the last I heard from the SQ.

And my problem is not unique. I know every victims family of an unsolved case knows exactly what I’m talking about.

This letter is in reference to the conduct of Champlain Regional College during the missing persons investigation conducted by the Lennoxville Police department when my sister, Theresa Allore, disappeared on November 3rd, 1978; and their conduct during the criminal investigation conducted by the Surete du Quebec after Theresa’s body was found on April 13th, 1979.At the time of her disappearance, my sister lived at King’s Hall, Compton. The King’s Hall facility was supervised by Stewart Peacock, the Director of Residence. Mr. Peacock was assisted by Jeanne Eddisford, Assistant Director of Residence. These were the only two Champlain employees supervising the 240 students at Compton.

Mr. Peacock’s supervisor was the Director of Student Services, Gerry Cutting.. Gerry Cutting was, in turn, supervised by the Campus Director, Bill Matson. All of this is documented in the enclosed materials.

The week before my sister disappeared, Stewart Peacock was criticized by students for absences from campus and for not fulfilling his administrative responsibilities. After Theresa disappeared, my parents came to the Townships. They stayed there for approximately a week in November, and returned for the entire month of December. In all there interaction with the College they only dealt with Bill Matson, Gerry Cutting, and Jeanne Eddisford – mostly Jeanne Eddisford. I have checked all of my Father’s notes from this time (they are extensive, spanning an entire year, from November 1978 through November 1979). The names Matson, Cutting and Eddisford are mentioned many times, the name Peacock is not mentioned once. Indeed, to this day, my parents maintain that they never met Stewart Peacock. They never even heard his name mentioned, until I found a witness make reference to him in a statement given to the police in April of 1979. Nevertheless, in official documents, Peacock is listed as the Director of Residence.

Recently, I had the occasion to speak with Louis Hamel, the original investigator for the Lennoxville Police. Hamel did not recall anyone named Peacock. He maintained that Matson and Eddisford were in charge. Mr. Hamel also kept his notes from 1978. There is no mention of Stewart Peacock.

In January of 1979, at the beginning of the second semester of school, while my sister was still a missing person, the school announced that Stewart Peacock had suddenly taken a leave of absence and had left for Vancouver. Jeanne Eddisford was made Acting Director of Residence, and curiously, the second floor of King’s Hall – where Peacock had lived, and where my sister was last seen to be heading – was closed. All students that were living there were resettled on the ground floor, or in the other residence on campus, Gillard house.

After April 13th, 1979, when the body was found, the case was turned over to the Surete du Quebec. The Surete interviewed Jeanne Eddisford who identified herself as the Director of Residence at the time of my sister’s disappearance.

Although I have not seen all of my sister’s SQ file, I am willing to guess that the name Stewart Peacock is never mentioned in the criminal investigation surrounding her death. He is not mentioned because none of the School Administrators – not Matson, Cutting, or Eddisford – disclosed to investigators that the person left in charge of the facility where the victim lived, the person whose room was located in the direction where the victim was last seen to be heading, had suddenly fled in the middle of a missing persons investigation and gone all the way across the country.

I believe this constitutes a crime on the part of Champlain college. Champlain college, and it’s administrators at that time, Bill Matson, Gerry Cutting and Jeanne Eddisford should be investigated on the charge of obstruction of justice for failing to disclose to criminal investigators information concerning who was truly in charge at King’s Hall, Compton.

What would motivate the School to hide the identity of Stewart Peacock? That is simple; if Peacock were a suspect (and I think at this time that is a possibility) this would damage the School’s reputation. If, however, Peacock were merely incompetent; this too would hurt the School, if a school supervisor were not capable of protecting the students in his charge. There may be an additional reason. When Gerry Peacock became Director of Student Services, Matson was not yet Campus Director, and the position of Director of Residence was vacant: in all probability, Gerry Cutting hired Stewart Peacock.

On March 15th, 2002, I met with Gerry Cutting, who is currently the Director General of Champlain College. Mr. Cutting related to me that Stewart Peacock was, “an inept former high school headmaster”, who was totally incapable of doing his job. When I later asked Cutting for clarification on Peacock’s job title, he lied and said he was the Director of Records, but when prodded, admitted he actually had been the Director of Residence.

On April 2nd, 2002, I had a telephone conversation with Jeanne Eddisford. She confirmed that Peacock was then the Director of Residence, and that he was absent from campus in the evenings on several occasions. She further stated that both Cutting and Matson were her supervisors, she did not answer to Peacock.

1. I urge you to contact Champlain College, and attempt to track down Stewart Peacock. He is a possible suspect in the death of my sister. At the least, he may be a witness to events surrounding her disappearance, and he needs to be interviewed by authorities.

2. Champlain’s actions in attempting to hide all knowledge of Stewart Peacock back in 1978-1979 may constitute a crime, especially in light of their recent, official declaration that the School fully cooperated with authorities during the initial investigation. I urge you to investigate the School on the charge that they obstructed the criminal investigation of the death of my sister.Gerry Cutting is the current Director General of Champlain College. He can be reached at (819) 564-3600 ext. 638.

Jeanne Eddisford currently works as a psychiatrist in Montreal. Her office is located at the corner of Sherbrooke street and Greene Ave. She can be reached at (514) 953-4357.Bill Matson died in the 1990s.

One final thought. On September 25, 2002 I wrote to the current Board of Directors of Champlain and its entire faculty and administration. I disclosed to them the matter of Stewart Peacock. On September 27, Leo Davis, Chairman of the Board of Champlain acknowledged receipt of my correspondence on behalf of the College, and again reiterated that the school would only cooperate with an official, police investigation. Because the entire college now has knowledge of Stewart Peacock, and has failed to come forward with this knowledge to the authorities, the entire Board, Faculty, and Administration is currently responsible for obstructing any investigation into the death of my sister.

I thank you in advance for your attention to this matter, and I look forward to discussing it further when we meet in November.

Sincerely,

John Allore- Encl.

The SQ never followed up with me. They thought my claim was frivolous.

3. Is a serial killer on the loose in the Eastern Townships?

When W-FIVE asked me if this was the work of a serial killer my response was something like this:

"It is possible that Theresa’s death was the work of an offender killing in a series… it is also possible that three different offenders killed Allore, Dube and Camirand, and equally frightening scenario given that all three of these cases remain unsolved."

I doubt they aired the second half of that statement.

Look, Kim Rossmo never said this was evidence of serial killings; what he said was there was enough evidence to warrant the investigation of all three case files together; something the Quebec police have never done. Here is Rossmo’s summary sent to Patricia Pearson back in 2002:

Patricia,

Here is a slightly modified version of my analysis, based on our telephone discussion today. I have also included a couple of paragraphs on crime linkage, to do with as you wish.Let me know if you have any questions.

Kim

"Each of these incidents involve multiple locations that, when combined, form a persuasive pattern. Camirand disappeared in Sherbrooke, close to where Dube went missing. She was later found in Magog, nearby what may have been Allore’s clothes. Dube, in turn, was found a few miles from Allore’s body outside Compton, just off a route linking Compton to Magog. Allore’s wallet was found just south of the area where both Camirand and Dube disappeared, very near an attack on a fourth woman.

The locations associated with these deaths are intertwined, woven together in the landscape south of Sherbrooke, Québec. Three murders in a 19-month period, in such a tight geographic cluster, is highly suspicious. All were young, low risk women. They were most probably attacked on the street, transported, and their bodies then dumped at a different location. The similarities are not likely the result of chance. These cases should be fed into ViCLAS (Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System), and reexamined as a group of potentially linked sex murders. Serial murderers typically live closer to the victim encounter sites than body disposal locations. This offender was most likely based in Lennoxville or South Sherbrooke during the period from 1977 to 1978.

Linking the crimes of a serial offender is not a straightforward task. Few killers are as obliging as Dr. Hannibal Lecter who placed a Black Witch Moth chrysalis in his victims’ throats. Crimes are linked through some combination of: (1) physical evidence (e.g., DNA, fingerprints, ballistics, etc.); (2) offender description (from a victim, witness, or camera); and (3) crime scene behaviour. In a murder without witnesses and decaying physical evidence, crime scene behaviour may be the only option. But to the degree that the scene is old or destroyed, important information regarding what exactly happened may be lost. Even at the best of times, crime scene comparisons are always probabilistic; in other words, we can only talk about the likelihood that two crimes are connected.

Linking crimes behaviourally requires comparing similarities versus differences for both related and unrelated crimes. Like crimes should show more similarities than differences, and unlike crimes, more differences than similarities. These comparisons are usually assessed in terms of proximity in time and space between offences, comparable modus operandi (the method of operation, or how the criminal found and attacked the victim, committed the crime, and escaped from the scene), and the presence of “signature” (fantasy-based rituals that go beyond what is necessary to commit the crime)."

So, you may ask, why hasn’t the police conducted a complete and thorough (complete with ViCLAS) investigation of these cases? It is my conclusion that the answer is, because they don’t understand what we were talking about.

When Dr. Rossmo made this determination, the SQ didn’t even have a behavioral science unit. Indeed, the SQ’s first profiler is still in training. How do I know? Because he was the first investigator assigned to Theresa’s case, but he was pulled off the case to study behavioral science under the tutelage of many experts including… Dr. Kim Rossmo.

As I have said before in earlier posts, I strongly suspect that the Surete du Quebec does not currently have the expertise to understand the criminology tools of behavioral science. As a result, the Surete du Quebec is playing “catch-up” with the rest of the world. They are way behind experts like the Behavioral Science unit of the OPP based in Orillia and need to invest considerable resources in initiating a “Cold case” unit.

4. Why did your parents consent to an interview after 26-years?

Bless their hearts. When they had put all this behind them and begun enjoying retirement, they took one more look at the blackest moment in their lives.

I think they did it for us (my brother and I). They knew this was important to us, and if they could help, then they would do so. My parents are very private people (so is my brother); they don’t enjoy this stuff at all. I think they did it less for Theresa and more for me. I don’t know, it’s very personal and it confuses me a bit. Best to say, I thank them for being courageous and inviting Sandi Rinaldo into their home.5. Why don’t you right a book about all this?

I did. Three hundred pages baby! But publishers were too busy arguing about the ending (“we need to have someone caught”) and where its placement should be on the display table (was it True Crime or Memoir) to notice that “no” ending to this mess was the ending.

So I gave that up. I'm currently working on my Masters in Justice Administration at North Carolina State University.

6. What’s the latest news on the Deborah Key investigation?

In late January the judge threw out the murder confession of Andrew Dalzell. Dalzell was released on bale (he still has some internet porn charges pending) and is back in the community. The DA is still waiting on the verdict in the appeal, but don’t hold your breath, Andrew Dalzell is most likely a free man. Two weeks ago, after being missing for 7 years and no body recovered, an Orange County judge declared Deborah legally dead. The ruling was requested by the family so that they could attend to some property issues and put things behind them. Last weekend I ran into Detective John Lau at the local community center. We were both taking our children swimming. Lau said that the police were still pursuing some other options on Dalzell. Yes, yes… I sometimes take cheap shots at law enforcement, but I know how hard the Carrboro police worked, what a disappointment this has been, and how deeply committed they have been to the Debbie Key investigation.

My connection to all this is documented in Bad Dream House. The name, Bad Dream House was a sophmoric reference to The Simpsons (in an early Treehouse of Horror episode, the Simpsons (a la Amityville Horror) move into a haunted house). What can I say? Theresa loved Halloween and she would have loved The Simpsons.

7. Who is Pierre Hugues Boisvenu and why do you refer to him so much?

Actually the question W-FIVE asked was,

“why have you been doing this…what have you achieved?”

When I answered,

“Pierre Boisvenu and AFPAD”,

they didn’t like that answer so I had to do another take where I said,

“I’m doing it for my sister, or something equally teary-eyed”.

Pierre Boisvenu is a father. His (26?) year old daughter, Julie was murdered by Hugo Bernier. Bernier was recently convicted and sentenced to 25-years in prison. Shortly after the trial ended Pierre started l’Association des Familles de Personnes Assassinées ou Disparues du Québec, (AFPAD). AFPAD currently has the momentum – it is the victims organization with the most potential in Canada (a close second is Manitoba’s MOVA). Pierre is my mentor and my friend. I have never seen anyone tackle the very difficult task of victim advocacy with such grace and composure. If you are a Quebec victim of crime and need assistance, start with Pierre and AFPAD. They will not let you down.

FYI: On March 20th at 6:30 p.m. CFCF's On Assignment will air a special broadcast on Montreal television called Victims No More, about AFPAD.

8. Tell us something about Theresa.

Funny. A total goofball. She lit up the room (they all do). You just wanted so much to be around her, she had so much energy. Theresa was my family’s leader. She was our compass. At a time when “cool” wasn’t mummified in irony, I never met anyone as cool as Theresa.9. Any Regrets?

Of course. I question myself every day. How far should I push? Should I sound-off or be respectful? Is this about me or her? Am I venturing into the realm of spectacle?

That’s the nature of the beast. But everyday I ask her, do you want me to stop? So far, I haven’t heard her say “no”.

10. Anything else?Yes. If you have any information about the disappearance and death of Theresa Allore on the night of Friday November 3, 1978 in Lennoxville, Quebec... please contact me at johnallore (at) earthlink (dot) net.